Here we go, Prime packer in the house.

[hooked on smoke]

While at Costco this afternoon I decided to swing by the meat section. Low and behold, the beautifully sign read,
BRISKET $2.99lb. Oh yeah. I rummaged through the pile and, not that I know what I'm looking for, picked a 15.20 pounder. So I get to the register and the fine chunk of beef rang up at $3.99lb. I asked why and the kind gentleman pointed at a magical sticker that said, U.S.D.A PRIME BEEF. My bad, it was the CHOISE that was $2.99lb. Oops, I looked at my sweet wife and she said, just do it. And here we are.
Gonna trim it up and prep the MB Gravity 800 for the early morning start. I'll do my best to share my first Oirme brisket adventure. I'm nervous, my last brisket turned out like pulled beef.

 

[SmokinEdge]

More marbling means less connective tissue. You just have to pay attention to the meat. I would rather cook choice than prime brisket but you may like it.

 

[hooked on smoke]

I plan on seasoning with SPGO. Should I season it, wtlrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge over night? Or season it in the morning, pre smoke?

 

[JIMSMOKES]

Lawry's, rub of choice overnight, then a large grain (Montreal) before you toss on smoke.

 

[indaswamp]

I'm in the car for the ride on this one....

 

[hooked on smoke]

More marbling means less connective tissue. You just have to pay attention to the meat. I would rather cook choice than prime brisket but you may like it.

We shall see. Fingers crossed.

 

[Hijack73]

Yum!


I've had a couple clearance prime's out of the Sam's bins. I saw nothing special about them.

I've cooked a couple of hundred choice, and choice is good enough for me. Choice may be why I pull most of mine well before it hits 200f and it still hits delicious - I've been long resting in a preheated oven for a decade though. Oven set to 200, minute I put the brisket in, the oven goes off. 6-10 hours later it's divine.

I've cooked dozens of selects. They work too.

If ya gonna add OnG, hit it with that then salt then pepper. Very liberal with SnP. The OnG gets a little protection that way.

No wrap once rubbed. 12-24 hours is more than enough. Most of mine I pull out of the cryovac and SnP and toss em straight on.

For years I was convinced that an overnight pellicle was needed. My taste buds disagreed with my brain. I can't tell a difference. Now I only rub in advance if I want to be able to go from fridge to smoker in 10 minutes.


No offense to the Montreal lovers, I love Montreal smoked beef. I love smoked brisket even more.

 

[indaswamp]

BTW, we expect lots of pics. along the way!! LOL!

 

[hooked on smoke]

Lawry's, rub of choice overnight, then a large grain (Montreal) before you toss on smoke.

Thanks for the feedback.

Yum!


I've had a couple clearance prime's out of the Sam's bins. I saw nothing special about them.

I've cooked a couple of hundred choice, and choice is good enough for me. Choice may be why I pull most of mine well before it hits 200f and it still hits delicious - I've been long resting in a preheated oven for a decade though. Oven set to 200, minute I put the brisket in, the oven goes off. 6-10 hours later it's divine.

I've cooked dozens of selects. They work too.

If ya gonna add OnG, hit it with that then salt then pepper. Very liberal with SnP. The OnG gets a little protection that way.

No wrap once rubbed. 12-24 hours is more than enough. Most of mine I pull out of the cryovac and SnP and toss em straight on.

For years I was convinced that an overnight pellicle was needed. My taste buds disagreed with my brain. I can't tell a difference. Now I only rub in advance if I want to be able to go from fridge to smoker in 10 minutes.


No offense to the Montreal lovers, I love Montreal smoked beef. I love smoked brisket even more.

Thank you! I appreciate appreciate your input.

 

[SmokinEdge]

We shall see. Fingers crossed.

You will be fine but I would expect a shorter cook time, may not but be ready for that. Otherwise post up pictures.

 

[hooked on smoke]

You will be fine but I would expect a shorter cook time, may not but be ready for that. Otherwise post up pictures.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I appreciate it. I'll try to remember to keep up with the updates, pics.
Thanks again.

 

[hooked on smoke]

Wrapped and into the fridge. I don't think I have a carrier in Christmas wrapping. Thanks all.

 

[JLeonard]

I'm in the car for the ride on this one....

Im in the back seat with a bucket of popcorn....."Are we there yet?"

Jim

 

[indaswamp]

Just throwing this out there....pics. of your first successful brisket have good odds of ending up on the spinner, so take a lot of pics......

 

[kelbro]

Good luck. Prime briskets seem to cook a little quicker than Choice so keep a close eye on it and don't rely solely on time. I just had one finish in 8 hrs.Wrapped and holding now until lunchtime.

 

[schlotz]

As mentioned, Primes do tend to get done a little quicker. Start probing for tenderness around 188-190º. If not tender everywhere wait for a 3-4º rise in IT and try again. Repeat until you are there.

 

[kelbro]

As mentioned, Primes do tend to get done a little quicker. Start probing for tenderness around 188-190º. If not tender everywhere wait for a 3-4º rise in IT and try again. Repeat until you are there.

Yep, taking a prime brisket to 205 can make it as tender as a pot roast and quite a challenge to slice.

 

[hooked on smoke]

Hi all,
I got wrapped up in the cook and helping my wonderful wife with side dishes. I was however able to track the brisket with pics and info. I just haven't had time to put them up yet. I will get to it as soon as I can.
I thank all of you for the advice and support on this brisket venture. I must say, IT WAS A SUCCESS! I promiss I will post it up as soon as I can. Fortunately things at work have picked up so time is limited.
I apologize in advance for the delay, please don't hold it against me.

 

[hooked on smoke]

I'm still a bit new so I wasn't sure whether I should have started a new post on this.

Okay here we go. Sorry for the delay, stuff happens. I show a few picks of a prime packer brisket I semi accidentally picked up from Costco. I left off wit a shot of the brisket seasoned and wrapped before putting it in the fridge for the night.

Here it is , after trimming. It was barely over 15lbs before trimming. I had no idea what I was doing with the trimming.

This is at 4:30AM just out of the fridge and unwrapped, resting while I fire up the MB Gravity 800. I filled the LSS Mods water tray with water, loaded the hopper with Blues Hog lump charcoal and spaced chunks of Hickory and cherry along the center of the coal. I set the smoker to 250 closed it up when it was primed and ready.

Once that was lit and underway I broke out my Inkbird thermometer and set it up for the run. This is the third time using this thermometer and I am pretty impressed so far.

I sprinkled the brisket with some additional Kinders The Blend, and into the smoker it went. This was around 5:30 AM.

This is about a couple hours in, smoker temp ranged from 248-260 with light blue smoke rolling over the meat. I could see it starting to take on some color.

Here we are at 5ish or so hours.

After better half and I returned from running some quick errands it was looking like time to wrap it up in pink butcher paper. Again, I am not very skilled at wrapping, well, anything.

I started probing it when it reach 195. It wasn't until it got to 202 that it began to soften up. I ended up pulling it at 208 when it felt like butter going in, it's hard to poke through the paper, is there a good method of sticking the probe in? (Hold the wise cracks). It was wrapped in a towel and placed into an ice chest with2 more towels above and below the brisket. The end results are in the picture below. I was pretty darn pleased with this one. I am getting winded from all this and I'm getting hungry. Enjoy the view.

Thanks to all of you out there that take the time to help other on the forum. You are all superstars.

OOOPS! The infamous foot shot. Sloppy me.

Are video file not acceptable for uploading? I was going to a video of the juices flowing but it would take it. The attachment came in saying "does not have an allowed extension". Bummer.
I forgot the plated shots, my bad.

Thanks for looking and all of the support, I really appreciate it.

 

[DemonPit]

Nice smoke ring! And GREAT job on the 1st brisket. Now you'll tweak the next, and keep repeating tweaks until you find what works and what you like.